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South Africa's Gershon RORICH and Colin POCOCK beat
Greece's Thanassis MICHALOPOULOS and Pavlos
BELIGRATIS 2-1 (21-16, 24-26, 15-10) in Pool F
of the Men's Olympic Beach Volleyball tournament
today. The South African pair, who
qualified second to last in the Olympic
Qualification rankings, took a very early 5-0
lead in the first set. Although the Greeks
quickly caught up at 5-4, the RORICH / POCOCK
combination rallied to widen the gap again and
maintained the difference until the end of the
set. The second set was a closer affair, with
neither of the two opponents gaining more than a
two-point advantage until 18-16. The South
Africans made it 19-16, but allowed the Greeks
to stay alive and tie the score at 20-20. With
some spectacular defending, the Greeks finally
forced the game into a tie-break at their fourth
set-ball, when RORICH tried to tip, but the ball
just rolled along the top of the net and dropped
just wide. Previously, RORICH / POCOCK had
blown a total of four match-points. RORICH /
POCOCK took a quick three-point lead in the
tie-break and kept MICHALOPOULOS / BELIGRATIS at
bay, despite an injury sustained by RORICH at
11-8. The South Africans reached their first
match-point at 14-9 and finished the match
promptly at 15-10. The continent of Africa is
represented for the first time in the Olympic
Games in Beach Volleyball since the sport was
incorporated into the Olympic programme in
1996. The result diminishes any aspirations the
Greeks may have had of a berth in the Single
Elimination Bracket, and allows the South
Africans to keep up hopes for an unlikely entry
to the top 16. ONS cd/nkl

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Argentina’s Mariano BARACETTI and Martin CONDE
scored an amazing comeback to edge out
Portugal’s Miguel MAIA and Joao BRENHA 2-1
(13-21, 21-16, 15-05), in Pool F of the Men’s
Olympic Beach Volleyball tournament. MAIA and
BRENHA, seeded 18th, stunned the 17th-seeded
Argentineans when they came away with the first
set. But the South Americans, World Champions
in 2001, found the way to come back in the
second set, breaking away after 7-7, to lead at
first with two points (9-7, 10-8) and then
gradually widen the gap (12-9, 16-10). The
tie-break (the first so far in the Olympic Beach
Volleyball tournaments) was a walkover, with
Argentina gaining an early lead 5-1, which it
never relinquished, widening it to 10-4 and
12-5. BARACETTI and CONDE based their victory
on better defending and more successful
attacking. Twice in the last two Olympic Games,
MAIA and BRENHA played in the bronze medal
matches but failed to get onto the podium. ONS
cd/nkl

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Portugal's Miguel MAIA and Joao BRENHA shut out
Greece's Thanassis MICHALOPOULOS and Pavlos
BELIGRATIS 2-0 (21-14, 21-19) in Pool F of the
Men's Olympic Beach Volleyball Tournament.
After trailing 3-10, 6-15 and 9-18 in the first
set, MICHALOPOULOS / BELIGRATIS tried to come
back, narrowing the gap to 14-18. But the
Portuguese responded with a kill by MAIA
(19-14), a block by BRENHA on BELIGRATIS (20-14)
and a final tip by MAIA (21-14). The Greeks
weren't discouraged, however, and with some good
defending kept the pressure up until the end of
the second set. But at 19-19 Portugal got the
side-out with a kill by MAIA (20-19) and
finished the match with a block by BRENHA on
BELIGRATIS (21-19). The result brings Portugal
closer to a berth in the 16-team Single
Elimination Bracket and leaves Greece with no
hopes of qualifying for the next phase. ONS cd/nkl

·
Argentina's Mariano BARACETTI / Martin CONDE,
the 2001 World Champions, defeated South
Africa's Gershon RORICH / Colin POCOCK 2-0
(21-13, 21-15), scoring their second victory in
Pool F of the Men's Olympic Beach Volleyball
Tournament. The Argentineans led through most
of the match and were never threatened by the
South Africans. BARACETTI / CONDE outplayed
RORICH / POCOCK in all actions, finishing the
match in a quick 36 minutes. The victory brings
Argentina to the top of the standings in Pool F,
with four points. ONS